Eclectic or Affinity-based Small Groups

As fallen people, we want a group to meet our needs and keep us from getting uncomfortable. Jesus, however, brought together fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes, and Pharisees. He challenged them to look beyond the external and their own comfort. He drew people together who had to be reconciled through his blood in order for them to share a meal together. To make this possible today, we have to see community as more than a place to meet our own needs. Calling people to that kind of community is calling them to a great blessing. One of the coolest experiences in a community of believers is seeing the eclectic mix of people God has drawn to himself through Jesus to accomplish his mission. So affinity-based groups have their place, but building groups around the mission of God will create opportunities for the gospel that affinity groups cannot (Brad House, Community, p. 112).